Into The Woods: Tree Names in Russian — Part II Posted by Maria on Jun 22, 2017
Last time, we started listing some trees you may come across in Russia. Let us expand that list with five more trees. Ель — Spruce We have seen ель (spruce) before as ёлка (“Christmas” tree put up for New Year’s in Russia). This can also be used as a catch-all name for any needled tree…
Into The Woods: Tree Names in Russian — Part I Posted by Maria on Jun 12, 2017
In my own language-learning endeavo(u)rs, I often find that I have the vocabulary to talk about more abstract subject like governance or culture but don’t know the words for objects in the physical world. If you have that problem, too, you may want to look at our posts about fruit and vegetables, planets, and birds…
5 Songs To Play At A Russian Wedding Posted by Maria on Jun 7, 2017
Does your country have a list of songs that get (over)played at every wedding? This is also the case in Russia. While this list will vary from wedding to wedding, here are five songs you’re likely to hear. Муслим Магомаев, “Свадьба” We have featured Soviet crooner Muslim Magomaev (Муслим Магомаев) on this blog. This Soviet-era classic is…
Russian for Social Media Posted by Maria on May 31, 2017
As we covered on this blog before, Russians are quite active on social media (социальные сети). Are you ready to talk about social networking in Russian? Here are some handy words. Поделиться Делиться (imperfective)/поделиться (perfective) + object in the instrumental case + с + recipient in the prepositional case means “to share.” Хочу поделиться полезной…
Basic Astronomy in Russian Posted by Maria on May 25, 2017
Don’t you wish you could talk about the wonders of the universe in Russian? Here are some vocabulary to get you started. Земля This word is useful for talking about a whole range of natural sciences. Земля can refer to Earth the planet, land, or soil. When we talk about the planet, Земля is capitalized…
10 of the Most Essential Words for Understanding Russian Politics Posted by Transparent Language on May 22, 2017
Politics plays a major role in contemporary Russian life. This has long been the case since Soviet times, and students of Russia and its language will find that much of the country’s political system is based on past Soviet means of governing. For example, the existence of “soviets”, “dumas”, and a strong executive branch are…
Penny For Your Thoughts: Words With ‑мысл‑ In Russian Posted by Maria on May 18, 2017
Have you read our previous articles about word families yet? Learners may find it useful to see how words with the same root express different meanings depending on prefixes and suffixes. This time, we will look at words with the мысл/мышл root, all having to do with thinking and intention. Мысль Мысль is the word for…